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It is a challenge for firms to stay ahead in the KPO business. Savi Gupta of Clairvolex, New Delhi, outlines how to succeed

Brand owners have scored two victories over eBay in France

Trade mark owners can prevent comparative advertising only if it creates a likelihood of confusion among consumers, according to the ECJ

The Data Protection Act has been headline news in the past year or so. Various committees and independent reviews are investigating recent breaches of data security and in particular HM Revenue & Customs' loss of data reportedly comprising the banking details of 25 million recipients of child benefit. This was not an isolated incident, with many losses of data and breaches of the data protection requirements uncovered in the private and public sectors since that time. Unsurprisingly there have been numerous calls for a tightening up of the law and for more powers for the UK's enforcement body, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).

Since 1995, the Singapore patent system has moved away from a re-registration system to the present examination system. However, applicants could still rely on allowed foreign applications for grant through a two-stage process. An applicant would first furnish details (country of filing, filing dates and application numbers) of all corresponding applications within 16 months of the priority date. Subsequently, the applicant would furnish prescribed information in the form of granted patents or documents setting out the final results of the search and examination of any one of the corresponding applications before 28 months of the priority date.

On June 6 2008, the president of the Philippines signed into law Republic Act no 9052 entitled Universally Accessible Cheaper and Quality Medicine Act of 2008. The director-general of the Intellectual Property Office and other appropriate government agencies are mandated to issue the implementing rules and regulations of the Act within 120 days. Republic Act no 9052 contains a number of important points.

Mexican intellectual property law does not provide protection to trade marks that are not inherently distinctive but have attained secondary meaning through use. This means that companies cannot obtain exclusive rights in Mexico over descriptive or generic words, surnames, geographic names or isolated colours and isolated letters, even through continuous and exclusive use or extensive advertisement of the branded products or services (which some jurisdictions deem grounds for proving "acquired distinctiveness").

In the recent High Court decision of IEV International v Sadacharamani a/l Govindasamy [2008] 2 MLJ 754, the Court allowed the plaintiff's application to invalidate two of the defendant's patents.

The Israeli Parliament (Knesset) recently amended Israel's Communications Law (Bezeq and Broadcasting) 1982 to prohibit the dissemination of email solicitations and other electronic advertisements without the recipient's prior express consent.

Foreign companies know that copyright infringement in China is rife. But as Shen Rengan, deputy commissioner of the National Copyright Administration of China, explains, the country's copyright law offers them a number of avenues for enforcing their rights. Interview by Catherine Sun